Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu is one of the Ghanaians in the diaspora flying high the flag of Ghana and breaking barriers to success.
The good news is that Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu is the Ghanaian Engineer and head of America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) InSight team that built the spacecraft which made a historic landing on Mars on Monday, November 26, 2018.
In a report by the New York Times, the spacecraft’s mission is to study Mars’ underworld, listening for marsquakes as well as information about the dusty formation.
Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu has been dreaming of creating autonomous technology since he was little. He helped bring my robotic arm to life and with it I'll deploy instruments on my own hundreds of millions of miles away on #Mars 💪 https://t.co/nJB0aA6CzC pic.twitter.com/kGexswAGT4
— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) August 30, 2018
On how he developed the interest in spacecraft, he said;
“I lived very close to the airport, so I was very interested in aircraft flying and I always dreamt of taking humans out of the cockpit and making computers fly”.
One of his numerous achievements is founding Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation ─a non-profit organisation with the sole aim to;
“Pioneer science education through administering hands-on robotics workshops and competitions throughout Ghana for Junior Secondary Schools, Senior Secondary Schools and Colleges.”
Below are some of his enviable achievements:
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─NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal (2008);
─Sir Monty Finniston Achievement Medal (2007) for outstanding technical contribution to any field of Engineering from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
─Outstanding Engineer Award (2007); JPL Mariner Award from MER for outstanding leadership in the analysis and resolution of the IDD unstow anomaly on Opportunity rover (2006).
─NASA Group Achievement Award-Mars Exploration Rover Avionics Team (2004); and the NASA Group Achievement Award-Mars Exploration Rover Flight System, Management and Engineering Team (2004) to name a few.
Source: GhanaCelebrities.com